Balls and musical toys comprise what may be some of the oldest types of toys known in the art. Children of all ages enjoy balls of various shapes and sizes because of the inherent simplicity that they possess. Musical toys, on the other hand, are particularly appealing in that they hold a child's interest and because they may also be more easily enjoyed in solitary play.
Early musical toys utilized expensive and complex mechanical apparatuses for producing musical sounds. These early apparatuses often tended to be relatively cumbersome and equally often, easily damaged. As a result, the character of musical toys for many years has been limited and sometimes expensive. However, the recently developed integrated circuit music-producing systems have provided a plentiful supply of relatively inexpensive and durable electronic circuits for producing music and other sound amusement. As a result, a greater variety of music and sound producing toys have been provided in various shapes and configurations. Some of the most interesting types of musical toys are those which combine the simple spherical shaped ball with an internal battery-powered, sound-producing mechanism.
Musical toys in which a spherical ball is provided with sound-producing mechanisms include, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,709,841 and 1,789,333 to DaCosta which disclose a tone producing toy and a toy, respectively, having a hollow spherical ball within which a mechanically actuatable rate responsive sound producing mechanism is disposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,780,029 to Anthony pertains to a toy ball with a music box disposed therein. That reference discloses a hollow ball separable into a pair of hemispheres and includes a diametrically extending interior bracket in each of the hemispheres. A music box is supported on the underside of one bracket and a threaded fastener cooperates with the brackets to secure the hemispheres together to form a music box enclosing sphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,669 to Potruzski et al. discloses an electrical signal mechanism actuated in response to rotation about any of three axes in which an object such as a baton, a ball or the like, produces an output signal such as sound or light solely when the object is rotated. The object includes an internal power source together with plurality of centrifugal force responsive switches coupled thereto. The internal electric mechanism is actuated in response to the centrifugal switches detecting ball motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,260 to Rumsey discloses a sound-producing ball which produces three different tones when rotated. The three orthogonally mounted gravity switches produce signals corresponding to their orientation and a multiplexor coupled to the switches selects one output condition for each combination of the switched output signals. The output of the multiplexor is coupled to an oscillator and speaker producing various tones in response to orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,134 to Rumsey also sets forth a sound-producing ball having a multiple tone sound-producing circuit. In this reference, a light transducer is supported at the surface of the ball and produces signals corresponding to the amount of a illuminating light sensed by the transducer. An oscillator is coupled to the light transducer to provide tones used to drive a speaker. A motion switch is coupled to the oscillator to shut off production of the sound when the device has been at rest for a predetermined time interval.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,141 to Rumsey pertains to a light and sound producing ball which produces one or more areas of light in a ball in response to the orientation of the ball with respect to gravity. A tone generator and speaker are included with the ball to provide unique audio tones for each orientation of the device. Switches and timers are provided to control the volume output and rate of generation of tones and light signals by movement of the ball by a predetermined series of positions, thereby obviating the need for external switches.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,931,029 to Hwang relates to a musical toy tumbler. That reference discloses a generally egg-shaped toy supporting an ornamental head portion which is weighted so as to maintain a generally vertical orientation with the head extending upward. A sound-generating integrated circuit and a plate spring type microswitch are supported within the base of the toy tumbler. The microswitch turns off the sound generating integrated circuit in the absence of a rocking motion for a predetermined period of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,107 to DeNittis discloses a sound box device in which a spherical container is provided with a surface depicting a plurality of graphic areas or fields. A corresponding plurality of electrical contacts are positioned beneath the graphic fields and are coupled to a microprocessor within the container. A loudspeaker and circuitry within the spherical container responses to the switch contact operation by producing a correspondingly related sound sequence.
Self-propelled balls also represent improvements in children's toys as they are both amusing and, to a certain degree, mystifying to those unfamiliar with their construction. These toys typically have either a friction motor or an electric motor and batteries which are eccentrically mounted about a central shaft, with the propelling means geared towards the shaft so as to move the ball as the propelling means revolves relative to the shaft. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 676,297 to Balding et al. relates to a hollow, self-propelled toy ball powered by a wind-up mechanism mounted on a centrally disposed shaft with the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,033,077 to Ayers discloses a motor propelled ball in which the propelling mechanism is concealed within the interior surface of a pair of hemispheres forming the ball.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,500,579 to Bryer relates to a randomly self-propelled spherical toy powered by a self-contained internal driving unit including a friction wheel rotated by an electric motor mounted on a supporting platform carrying a battery for energizing the motor. The platform and the driving wheel engage the inner wall of the sphere at haphazard and constantly varying locations by being completely independent of connection therewith, resulting in an irregular path of travel which automatically veers away from an object with which it collides.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,675 to Robinson discloses a mechanized ball which includes a hollow sphere having a removable hatch through which a powered ball driving unit can be placed within the sphere and removed therefrom. The ball driving unit can be electrically or mechanically powered and may be in the form of a singled powered driving wheel or a self-contained four-wheel toy vehicle.
From the foregoing, it may be appreciated that propelled motorized balls represent improvements over non-motorized and/or non-propelled children's toy balls. However, self-propelled balls are limited in their overall appeal and while the foregoing describe certain musical toys and self-propelled balls which have provided some increase in amusement and play value for toys generally, there remains a continuing need in the art for even more interesting and amusing musical toys. The present invention fulfills this need.